Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: White males to decide who's "white"

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

White males to decide who's "white"

Russell Contreras (AP.org); CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

But I'm not "black," so why are you arresting me, man? Why are you treating me black?

Census changes could make whites less than 50 percent sooner

L-R: Racial Statistics Branch Chief (US Census Bureau) Nicholas Jones, panelists Nat'l American Indian Housing Council Executive Director Mellor Willie, Navajo Nation Deputy Director of the Washington Office Simon Boyce, Nat'l Indian Education Assn. Exec. Director Colin Kippen and Nat'l Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Kevin Gover, present graph of Native American pop. during a forum about the American Indian and Alaska native population at the NMAI in DC. US Census Bureau is testing new questions on tribal enrollment for the 2020 count in an effort to get a more accurate tally of American Indians. Census director Thompson told AP on 11-17-15 that the agency is aiming to avoid a 5 percent undercount seen in 2010 (AP).

We still get to be "human" right, men?

(Nov. 18, 2015) ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - The U.S. Census Bureau is considering changes to its race and ethnicity questions that would reclassify some minorities who were considered "white" in the past, a move that may speed up the date when America's white population falls below 50 percent.

["White" is a fluid social construct, not a fixed biological reality, that comes with very real privileges.]

"Race" is a fluid cultural categorization.

Census Director John Thompson told The Associated Press this week that the bureau is testing a number of new questions and may combine its race and ethnicity questions into one category for the 2020 census. That would allow respondents to choose multiple races.

I still get to mark "white" right, guys? (AP)

The possible changes include allowing Latinos to give more details about their ethnic backgrounds and creating a new, distinct category for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent.

"We haven't made any decisions yet," Thompson said in an interview before his meeting Tuesday with American Indian leaders in New Mexico.

Yes! Irish now get to be "white"!

"But I don't think these new questions would diminish anything. It would just give us more information about our diverse populations."

William H. Frey, a demographer with the [conservative] Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, says the proposed changes would grant residents more freedom to define their race and ethnicity.

"I don't know if this will make a huge difference in the 2020 census on whites becoming the minority, but it could later," said Frey, author of "Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America."

In the past, "white" was the only racial option available to Arab-American respondents, a classification that didn't truly reflect their social standing and hurt efforts for their political empowerment in post-Sept. 11th America, said Samer Khalaf, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

I want to be your king, white men (NPR).

"If you are going to classify me as white, then treat (me) as white," Khalaf said, "especially when I go to the airport [and am the subject of racial profiling]. So yeah, it's inaccurate."

For years, many U.S. Latinos also checked the "white" box because options were limited, said Lorenzo Cano, associate director of the Center of Mexican American Studies at the Univ. of Houston. But many Latinos are now opting to check "American Indian" to identify with their links to indigenous populations in Latin America.

We'll take that guy. Or Trump (KKK).

Overall, "these changes could reduce the number of people who identify as white," Cano said. The Census Bureau has estimated that the country's population will have more minorities than whites for the first time around 2043 or 2044, a result of higher birth rates among Hispanics and a stagnating or declining birth rate among blacks, whites, and Asians.

How much the changes could speed up the moment when minorities will outnumber whites is anyone's guess. Analysts would first have to examine the new data -- some of which won't be comparable to 2010 because of the possible new categories, Frey said.

The proposed changes could present a new set of challenges for the Census Bureau. For example, Dee Ann Alexander, a census tribal specialist, said Mexican-Americans who check the "American Indian" box could deter efforts to get an accurate count of enrolled tribal members living in cities.

"It's a concern," Alexander said. "Around 74 percent of Native Americans live in urban areas, and it's a challenge to search for that population."

In addition, an aggressive push by the census to include Arab-Americans in the count might lead to more suspicion because many of them fear the federal government, Khalaf said.

White men will rule a police state if necessary.

"They think it will put them under surveillance," he said. "They won't fill (the census) out because they don't want to be on any list." Still, such new questions could give a more accurate assessment of a changing America at a time when 15 percent of all marriages involve couples of difference races, Frey said.

Colleges reverse racism due to students.

"And who knows how their children will identify," he said. Cano said he can see some in the country becoming alarmed at the rapid changes, although it will subside eventually as groups continue to intermarry.

"Like we always do, we'll keep moving on," Cano said, "and let love take place." Source